Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 5,566 Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Verona Pharma by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 17,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,914,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma news, Director Vikas Sinha sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $178,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 74,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $664,004.80. This represents a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 114,984 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,014,158.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,546,472 shares in the company, valued at $22,459,883.04. This trade represents a 4.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 365,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,208,741. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on VRNA shares. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price target on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cowen assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $81.50.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma stock traded down $2.90 on Friday, reaching $63.36. 1,937,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,288,026. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of -33.00 and a beta of 0.20. Verona Pharma plc has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $74.18. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.